Parents hunt for children scattered by hurricane

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Almost 2000 parents still can't locate their children after
Hurricane Katrina forced hundreds of thousands of people to scatter
across the country, and Louisiana officials said they can't find
about 500 foster kids who are under the state's care.

With the death toll climbing to more than 800, the National
Centre for Missing and Exploited Children announced it had received
2463 reports of parents who can't track down their children - but
only 600 matches had been made.

The New Orleans French Quarter has cleaned up its bars and clubs
to get ready for business as President George Bush promised to
restore the hurricane-ravaged coastal region without raising taxes
or shattering budgets.

Speaking in Washington, he said: "It's going to cost whatever it
costs. The key question is to make sure the costs are wisely spent
and that we work with Congress to make sure that we are able to
manage our budget in a wise way, and that is going to mean cutting
other programs."

Recovery costs have been estimated at more than $US200 billion
($258 billion).

The White House and Congress have already authorised $62.3
billion in emergency funds since the August 29 storm displaced a
million people.

Louisiana needs at least $2.3 billion to fix bridges and roads
alone, the state's Department of Transportation and Development
said.

Experts said the environmental impact of the flooding that
followed the hurricane was not as bad as initially feared. While
much of the city was covered in a layer of stinking sludge, there
were not high levels of toxic contamination.

The city's water is contaminated with raw sewage, but the
Environmental Protection Agency said the amount of heavy metals,
oil and chemicals in the water was not dangerous.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin asked business owners to return to
the French Quarter and three other areas this weekend.

About 182,000 residents, or nearly 40 per cent of the city's
450,000 population, will be allowed back over the next 10 days.

Julio Menjivar, the general manager of three clubs on Bourbon
Street in the heart of the French Quarter said: "We have a
statement to make. Maybe we were down, but we're not out.

Bourbon Street will bounce back."

Pump after pump dumped smelly, brown water from the lower levels
of buildings into once-flooded streets as electric and gas crews
roved streets checking damage and repairing cables.

Public health analyst Jerry Fenner said: "People feared there
would be toxic pits but the data so far doesn't support that."

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1126750168525-smh.com.auhttp://www.smh.com.au/news/world/parents-hunt-for-children-scattered-by-hurricane/2005/09/17/1126750168525.htmlsmh.com.auThe Sun-Herald2005-09-18Parents hunt for children scattered by hurricaneKieran Murray and Maggie FoxWorld